Rethymnon, June 15, 2007

On Friday June 22, the Centre of Contemporary Art of Rethymnon (Contemporary  Art Museum of Crete) inaugurated in the Artillery Building in the Fortezza an exhibition entitled: “I Observe, I Learn, I Create”, with works by children and adults of the Workroom of Fine Arts of the 2006-2007 period.

Imagination, observation, ingenuity and creativity are the protagonists in the students’ works.
The exhibition included paintings, pottery, engravings, jewellery, constructions etc. from all the sections, products of the contemporary teaching methods of art education.

In the Workroom of Fine Arts there are children’s sections and adults’ sections. The students have the opportunity to learn different techniques and handling of expressive means and tools such as: sketching, engraving, painting, pottery, mask creation, collage, constructions from waste materials, etc.

In the specially selected programs, separate for each age, the students acquire self-awareness, discover multiple ways of expression, broaden their imagination and get to know the history of art and culture.

The pedagogical model of the workshops aims at broadening the perceptive ability of children by teaching them to perceive the world surrounding them not only as a total of concepts which are defined verbally and classified according to specific educative systems but multidimensionally through visual editing, through shape, movement, volume and form, through the observation of space and natural materials etc. The contact with art is not only a factor of aesthetics and artistic education; it also contributes unconditionally to the shaping of the personality as well as to his mental balance.
It is a natural means of learning at all the stages of a person’s development because it teaches him the values and the basic teachings for his full spiritual, emotional and social integration.

The Workshops have established –inter alia- cooperation with the Elementary Schools of the Prefecture of Rethymnon. The students, accompanied by their teachers, have the opportunity to attend a two-hour educational program of art education in the area of the Workshops.

The Art Workshops of the Centre of Contemporary Art have sections for painting and pottery for children and adults. There are also special sections for the candidates for the School of Architecture, Technical Colleges and the Schools of Fine Arts.